Many different systems have been proposed over the years for harvesting and collecting sap from trees. Sap is generally harvested using spouts, also sometimes referred to as splines, which are inserted into corresponding tapped holes made on the trunks of trees. The sap flows out of the trees through the spouts and is further collected thereafter. Some implementations use buckets or the like in which the sap can drip by gravity and accumulate underneath the spouts. However, most commercial implementations now use flexible tubing networks operable under vacuum conditions. The sap flowing out of each spout is carried by a corresponding flexible tubing network to a given destination, for example a sap processing unit or to a sap storage unit. The sap processing unit and/or the sap storage unit can be located in a sugarhouse, for instance. Once collected, water can be removed from the sap to concentrate the high-sugar content therein and the concentrated sap can be transformed into various products. For instance, most of the sap from sugar maple trees of a sugar bush can be transformed into food products such as maple syrup. A similar process can be carried out using sap from other kinds of trees, for instance yellow birch, cherry birch, hickory, basswood, etc. Maple trees are thus not the only kinds of trees from which sap could be collected.
The spouts are installed in tapped holes by one or more operators before or during the beginning of the sap harvesting season. The tapped holes are made using a drill bit rotated by a portable electric drill or a similar handheld tool, as well known in the art. The outer diameter of the drill bit somewhat matches the outer diameter of the spout. In practice, the tapped holes are not perfectly circular. They are more or less conical in shape since the drilling motion made by an operator in the field is never perfectly rectilinear.
Conventional rigid spouts are designed to be inserted with force into the tapped holes, for instance using a hammer, to create an interfering engagement between the interior of the tapped holes and the outer surface of the spouts. This forces the tree portions surrounding the tapped holes to expand to yield space for the spouts. It will generally provide a sealed connection between the spouts and their tapped holes even if the tapped holes are not perfectly circular. However, conventional rigid spouts are also prone to ejection from the tapped holes during freeze/thaw cycles of a typical sap harvesting season in a sugar bush, which would break the sealed connection with their tapped hole and sometimes even push them completely out of their tapped hole. Operators tend to insert the spouts very tightly into the tapped holes to mitigate this problem, although operators must still make frequent inspections to reinsert the ones that came out of the tapped holes despite the initial interfering engagement. The forced insertions of the conventional rigid spouts into the tapped holes often causes damages to the trees.
At the end of the sap harvesting season, the spouts must be removed from the tapped holes. Most conventional rigid spouts are generally difficult to remove because they are still well inserted into the tapped holes. The sweet sap also tends to act as an adhesive between the spout and the bark. Using an extraction tool is often required. As a result, portions of the bark around the tapped holes can be damaged during the removal process, which will result in a loss in productivity for the next sap harvesting seasons. The conventional rigid spouts themselves are prone to damages during their removal with an extraction tool.
Each flexible tubing network generally includes different kinds sap collecting devices in addition to the spouts. Sap collecting devices can be defined as devices to which the free ends of the flexible tubings are connected. Examples of devices include connectors, T-connectors, unions, spout elbows, main line couplings, adaptors, fittings, etc. Some sap collecting devices are interposed between two or more lengths of flexible tubings. Yet, these various conventional sap collecting devices typically include a plurality of large circular serrations located on the portion receiving the free end of the flexible tubings to resist dislodging. Once the free ends are in position, they are generally not easy to remove. Nevertheless, all sap collecting devices must eventually be detached from the flexible tubings for a thorough cleaning/sanitization at the end of the sap harvesting season. Furthermore, during the sap harvesting season, operators may need to reconfigure part of the flexible tubing network or to temporarily disconnect some of the flexible tubings, for instance to clear the way for a vehicle. Other situations may exist as well.
Because of the difficulties in removing the free ends of the flexible tubings from conventional sap collecting devices, it is not unusual for operators to cut the flexible tubings close to the free ends so as to facilitate their work. The result is that the individual lengths of the flexible tubing become shorter over the years and the cut tubing portions are wasted. Time is still wasted when the flexible tubing studs are removed from the sap collecting devices once the flexible tubings is cut away. Furthermore, the end portions of the flexible tubings that are located on the serrations are subjected to creep. These serrations tend to be relatively large in diameter and this can speed up the phenomenon. Thus, over time, the material of the end portions is no longer sufficiently elastic and the deformations imposed by the serrations become permanent. These end portions must be cut away.
Clearly, room for many improvements still exists in this technical area.